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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530276">Living in Color</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/felinaandthecooks/pseuds/felinaandthecooks'>felinaandthecooks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Young Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:34:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,182</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/felinaandthecooks/pseuds/felinaandthecooks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Upon a dare by his brother, Sergio gets himself in trouble with a neighbor and is saved by his classmate, Raquel. That small act of kindness leads to a connection that neither of them was expecting.</p><p>Okay, this is a shameless young!Serquel AU fic.</p><p>***** ON HIATUS *****</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>102</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Dare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey, lovelies :)</p><p>Long time no see, huh? I took some time away from here to focus on other personal matters, but inspiration struck and here I am back at writing Serquel.</p><p>Actually, this is a short fic idea that crossed my mind as I'm working on (yet another Serquel) long fic, but since that one requires a little bit more research, I ended up writing the chapter for this fic before diving into the other one.</p><p>This is a shameless young!AU because... of reasons.</p><p>Sorry in advance for any errors, I did my best but y'all know sometimes things just slip by.</p><p>ETA: I'm replying to all of your comments in Atados now, SORRY for not replying to them sooner, I needed a mental health break and I ended up leaving a lot of you hanging :(((</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To say that Sergio was anxious would be an understatement.</p><p>Of course, the same could be said about him <em> every other day</em>, but considering he was a seventeen year old going to school for the first time <em> ever </em> in his life, this particular anxiety was getting the best of him.</p><p>“Come on, Sergio, let’s go,” Andrés ordered as he walked behind him in the kitchen. “Mamá is going to kill me if I don’t get you there in time.”</p><p>Sergio took a deep breath and picked up his backpack, following his brother out the house to their mother’s car. Since she was currently on a work trip and would only return on Sunday, Andrés was in charge of driving Sergio to school for his very first day of Bachillerato. Of course, Andrés had already made a mess out of their mother’s car and Sergio had to throw two shirts, a jacket and an empty bottle of beer onto the back seat to climb into the car.</p><p>“How is it possible that you’ve already polluted the car?” Sergio asked, putting on his seatbelt as his brother waved him off and tsked.</p><p>“Go on using words like polluted, please, you’ll see how quick they’re going to make fun of you,” Andrés chuckled.</p><p>His younger brother, however, didn’t find the prospect as funny as he did. “Wow, thanks. Now I’m even more excited about this prospect.”</p><p>“You want my advice?” Andrés asked, starting the car and taking it out of the garage slowly. “Talk to no one, blend into the background. That way, no one will even <em> remember </em> to beat the shit out of you.”</p><p>Sergio shifted on his seat uncomfortably but his brother didn’t even notice his uneasiness – he turned on the radio and offered him a surprised grin when a song by Andrea Bocelli blasted on the speakers. Andrés joined in, with his actually impressive Italian accent, and Sergio couldn’t help but chuckle at his brother.</p><p>“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Andrés tapped on the steering wheel twice, making Sergio look at him curiously. “I got some friends coming over tonight.”</p><p>“Andrés…” Sergio began, shaking his head sideways. “Mamá said she didn’t want any party whatsoever – do you remember what happened last time?”</p><p>Andrés tilted his head, a small cringe gracing his expression as he recalled that the last time he had a party at their house, someone puked in a living room wall and an antique vase that was their father’s family heirloom had shattered into dozens of small pieces.</p><p>He shrugged. “Well, it’s not a party, we’re just going to smoke and chill, okay?”</p><p>“It’s Wednesday, I have classes tomorrow – you have your FP starting tomorrow too!” Sergio countered, worried.</p><p>“Exactly,” Andrés replied. “It’s our end of summer get together, I <em> promise </em> no one will puke on any wall.”</p><p>“It would be great if nobody puked <em> period</em>,” Sergio squinted at his brother.</p><p>“You need to loosen up a little, hermanito,” he gesticulated with one hand wildly. “Tonight, you’re going to join us.”</p><p>“No, I’m not,” Sergio rolled his eyes.</p><p>Andrés didn’t reply out loud, but he glanced over at his younger brother with a look that clearly said, “oh, yes, you will”.</p>
<hr/><p>Sergio looked down at his class schedule and followed the directions on the walls until he found the classroom he was supposed to be in. Other than two other classmates, the room was still empty and he found himself a seat in the third row, third chair. Not so far into the back that he wouldn’t be able to see a thing but definitely <em> not </em> in the first row.</p><p>Perhaps he wouldn’t admit it out loud but Andrés’ advice to blend in actually sounded like a pretty solid one. He began organizing his desk – his notebook, his pencil, his pen all perfectly aligned. He took out a book by Arturo Pérez-Reverte he was reading and settled into his chair. It was all perfectly fine until he heard laughter and looked up in time to see two girls walking into the classroom.</p><p>One of them, slightly taller, had dark hair and freckles and gesticulated like she was telling a joke to her friend, a petite girl with long golden brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders – and Sergio just knew from the way she was grinning that she was the owner of that laughter that driven him out of oblivion. </p><p>She hadn’t noticed him, of course, but Sergio couldn’t avoid glancing in her direction every once in a while as she made herself comfortable in the desk diagonally across from him – second row, fourth chair, right by her friend. They continued chatting excitedly while Sergio read – well, <em> pretended to</em>, if he were being honest – and the classroom started filling up with other teenagers.</p><p>Finally, their first teacher arrived – a kind, old woman named Mrs. Lopez – and she welcomes them quickly before picking up a sheet of paper.</p><p>“Alright, first things first, raise your hand when I call out your name, please,” Mrs. Lopez explained, clicking the button of her pen and concentrating on the list of names in her attendance sheet.</p><p>Sergio glanced over at his classmate and saw her holding a pencil in between her teeth as she pulled out her notebook from a black leather backpack and opened it in a random page. Upon noticing that those pages were all written in, she quickly flipped until she found blank ones, as if whatever was written there wasn’t meant for prying eyes.</p><p>He watched her take the pencil from her mouth and roll it around her hair to put it up in an elegantly disheveled bun, then she picked up a black pen and glanced at her blank pages, biting the back of the pen.</p><p>Sergio swallowed dry, the book still open in his hands because he had entirely forgotten what he was doing. He needed his full attention on the call sheet, so he could at least know <em> who </em> she was. That’s all he wanted, really, the knowledge of her name.</p><p>He had to wait until the letter R before he even saw her tilt her head up from her notebook, where she had been scribbling and writing in one of the pages for the past few minutes.</p><p>“Raquel Murillo,” Mrs. Lopez called out and that’s when he saw her raise her hand, offering her teacher a warm smile.</p><p>Raquel Murillo. Even her name was pretty. Sergio lowered his gaze to the book he was holding, feeling a little more at peace now. It wasn’t until he noticed Raquel glance around that room that he realized the teacher was calling out his name.</p><p>“Is Sergio Marquina not here?” Mrs. Lopez asked, her pen ready to signal his absence.</p><p>“I’m here,” Sergio blurted out, raising his hand awkwardly.</p><p>“Oh, and where were you the last two times I called out your name, huh?” Mrs. Lopez asked, albeit playfully, as she shook her head at her student.</p><p>“Sorry, I was focused on... the book,” he lied as the teacher approached him and closed the book to peak at its cover.</p><p>“Well, at least you’re reading some good literature,” she replied. “But I’d rather your focus is in this class while I’m in the classroom.”</p><p>“Yes, Mrs. Lopez,” he quietly answered as the teacher walked away. </p><p>Sergio put away his book and let his gaze drop to the blank page of his notebook when he noticed – Raquel was looking at him. He tried to remain calm as he lifted his gaze to find her curiously staring at him. When their eyes met, she didn’t even hesitate and smiled at him, with the same warmth she had smiled at her teacher. And as quick as she had recognized his mere existence, she had already shifted her focus back to her own desk.</p><p>After Mrs. Lopez finished the roll call, she started going over the curriculum for her class, Lengua Castellana y Literatura I. Normally Sergio would be elated that he would get first hand knowledge of the class bibliography and calendar, but for the first time ever his attention was divided between his studies and another human being.</p><p>He tried to rationalize it. This was his first time <em> ever </em> in a school, he had never been around girls his age other than Andrés’ friends – and Ágata and Silene felt like sisters to him –, so he was bound to find one of his classmates pretty, right? That was probably it. He found Raquel pretty and she was so close to him that he couldn’t help but look at her every once in a while. There was nothing wrong with that, right? </p>
<hr/><p>Raquel was having a good day.</p><p>This summer had been hard on her and her family, what with her grandfather passing away and all. She and her mother had stayed with her grieving grandmother for a few weeks to offer her both help and a little bit of comfort. Even if sometimes it was nice to be reunited just the three Murillo women, the sadness that gloomed over the house was noticeable. It was nice to be back in Madrid, back in her house, back in her bedroom, back with her father. Back in school.</p><p>She was <em> so glad </em> she got to go to school that day and focus on normal teenager stuff like classes, grades and, well, <em> gossip</em>.</p><p>“I’m telling you, they were having sex in front of <em> everyone </em>,” Laura widened her eyes as she whispered to her friend.</p><p>Raquel squinted her eyes at her while she sat down in front of her brown haired friend. She didn’t normally believe everything that Laura said because her friend had the tendency of inflating every single story she told her and this was no different.</p><p>“Wouldn’t anybody have filmed them?” Raquel asked.</p><p>“Oh, people certainly did,” Laura replied matter-of-factly. “Doesn’t mean they care, though.”</p><p>“Raquel!” Mónica’s voice echoed and Raquel turned around to find her and Alicia approaching her with large grins on their faces. </p><p>“Món!” Raquel stood up to greet her excitedly.</p><p>“Oh, I missed you,” the blonde exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her friend. </p><p>“Me too,” she muttered back.</p><p>When Raquel managed to untangle herself from Mónica’s hug, she looked over at the red haired waiting to be acknowledged by her. </p><p>“Aliii!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms around her and hugging her tight.</p><p>Alicia groaned and rolled her eyes, hugging her back. “I hate you for being gone for so long.”</p><p>“I missed you too,” Raquel gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled at her nonchalant shrug as they sat down at the table.</p><p>“How was the moving day?” Mónica asked, digging into her bag for her lunchbox.</p><p>“Exhausting,” Raquel sighed, diving into her own lunch as she explained herself. “We’re still settling in, sorry for not meeting you up sooner.”</p><p>Alicia tsked. “Don’t worry, rubia, you haven’t really missed out on anything.”</p><p>“Oh?” Raquel raised her eyebrows. “Laura was <em> just </em> telling me at the last party you went to someone puked all over a living room wall and a couple had sex in front of everyone.”</p><p>Mónica frowned for second. “Hm, I didn’t go to that one.”</p><p>“I did,” Alicia pondered, biting into a chocolate bar and turning her head towards Laura. “Which couple?”</p><p>“The girl with the short hair and her baby faced boyfriend,” the brunette replied.</p><p>“<em> Oooh </em> ,” Alicia seemed to recollect the memories of what her friend was talking about for a moment, before tilting her head in her direction. “I think they were just making out, like, <em> hard</em>.”</p><p>Raquel had to stifle a laugh in between her bites while Alicia offered her clarity on Laura’s overtop gossip – just as she thought.</p><p>“Although… I’d do it with her, in public or private,” the red haired shrugged.</p><p>“Alicia!” Mónica gasped, laughing.</p><p>Raquel smiled, taking a moment to look around the patio at her new surroundings. This was a nice school. Big classrooms, large trees surrounding it, her closest friends would be with her on a daily basis, even if Alicia and Mónica were in a different class.</p><p>She let her gaze travel around the open space freely and distractingly until it landed on the boy from her class – Sergio – as he was sitting alone at a table, eating his lunch with his book opened in front of him. She felt sad by seeing him all alone like that, not out of pity, but because he apparently liked literature as much as she did, judging by his loyal companion, and mostly because he just seemed so shy she thought he might actually want to disappear into thin air.</p><p>She made a mental note to herself that he could use someone to talk to at school and that she was willing to be his friend if the occasion came along. He was most definitely an awkward nerd, yes, but he seemed nice and it could be good to befriend someone with the same passion for literature as her. </p><p>With a small sigh, she turned to face her friends again, missing by mere seconds the exact moment Sergio’s gaze left his book to find her.</p>
<hr/><p>Okay, there was definitely something wrong.</p><p>Sergio had been able to avoid staring too much at Raquel for the past few classes – even if he still glanced her way subtly at one point or another – but he was now determined that there was definitely something wrong with it, or rather, with <em> him</em>.</p><p>It wasn’t that he never found other girls attractive – he <em> did </em> – but there was just something about her that felt… different. A magnetism of some kind, the way her nose scrunched when she laughed or how she slightly frowned or bit the lid of her pen while she tried to concentrate. There were those mysterious notes she scribbled all over her notebook pages, in a messy, disorganizing manner that would otherwise make Sergio anxious but with her they just seemed rather… charming.</p><p>And there was her smile. The way her front teeth were a little more pronounced the rest, or how her entire face lit up when she grinned.</p><p>He never expected to feel so relieved when the classes finally ended, because being around her all day had proven to be <em> intoxicating</em>. As if he couldn’t 100% focus on anything else while she was in his peripheral vision. </p><p>Andrés had promised to pick him up after school, so he sat outside in a bench with his book in hand once again – a good enough excuse to keep his head down and not talk to anyone – until he heard the sound of her laughter once again and unwillingly looked up to see her walking past the school gate with her friends.</p><p>He couldn’t help the way the corner of his lips curved up at the sight of her, but because he had been staring he noticed the exact moment her expression and posture changed as she looked at the street. He found it weird, as if she had just pulled a curtain around her when she had been so open and warm all day, and saw her wave goodbye to her friends and hop inside a car that had just pulled up in front of them.</p><p>And that’s when he saw the guy behind the steering wheel lean in to kiss her before driving away.</p>
<hr/><p>It was really telling that Raquel’s day was going great up until Alberto showed up at her school. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, of course, not even to Mónica, because that would mean having to explain to her <em> why </em> she was feeling that way and the truth was she wasn’t sure about her reasoning herself. </p><p>Alberto had changed a lot since when they first started dating. He was so charming and cavalier at first and he made her feel like she was the center of the universe. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly <em> when </em> but over the past six months he had become like a completely different person. Impatient, rude, demanding.</p><p>She tried to pry out of him what was happening – if it was something at college, if it was something at home. He made her feel crazy whenever she tried to ask what was going on, so she eventually stopped asking and assumed the problem was her. She modulated the way she talked around him because he’d complain about her wanting to call attention on herself by talking or laughing too loud. She bit her tongue before opening her mouth to complain about any dismissive remark he offered her. She stopped wearing the clothes she knew he would call slutty, she often rescheduled hanging out with her friends because he really wanted to see her, she had to text him every time she went from one place to the next because he’d be paranoid about where she was and who she was with.</p><p>So when he pulled up in front of school in his car, out of the blue, and told her he was driving her home, she wasn’t exactly excited, although she had masked it well. By now, she was beginning to think that she might actually have some talent for the performing arts. She offered him a plastic grin and said goodbye to her friends, climbing onto the passenger seat.</p><p>He leaned in to kiss her and she barely moved her lips back, letting him run his hand over her thigh as she slightly pulled away with a smile to put on the seatbelt.</p><p>“Hey,” he said, beginning to drive away from her school.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>“I missed you,” Alberto replied, running his hand up her thigh. </p><p>She smiled at him, putting her backpack on the floor in front of her. </p><p>Upon not hearing her respond, he looked back at her.  “Didn’t you miss me?”</p><p>“Of course,” Raquel replied, looking up at him.</p><p>He seemed satisfied enough by the answer. “How was your first day?”</p><p>“Good,” she said, happy that at least she didn’t have to lie about that. She had enjoyed her first day back and she had missed her friends. Maybe that’s why she continued the sentence with something she instantly regretted. “I wasn’t expecting you though.”</p><p>Alberto turned his head to stare at her angrily, instantly retreating his hand from her leg.</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>Raquel sighed. She knew that look all too well. “Alberto…”</p><p>“No, it’s fine, I didn’t know I had to wait for an RSVP before coming to pick you up,” he shrugged, but his voice was filled with resentment. “Would you like me to drop you off here?”</p><p>Raquel shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.”</p><p>“What was it that you meant then, huh?”</p><p>“I just meant it was a surprise, that’s all,” she explained, omitting a sigh. She really didn’t mean it in a <em> bad </em> way but she knew that was the first thing that would cross his mind.</p><p>Why did she have to be so stupid? She really should be more mindful of what she said.</p><p>Alberto grunted. “Fuck, Raquel, you’re just never happy, are you?”</p><p>She frowned. “What are you talking about?”</p><p>“You’re always – <em> always </em> – pushing me, saying there’s something wrong, acting all hot and cold–”</p><p>“You know what? I don’t wanna do this right now,” she interrupted him, crossing her arms in front her and looking out the window.</p><p>He scoffed. “Oh, now you don’t want to do this? You started it!”</p><p>“All I said was that I wasn’t expecting you!” She explained, once again, exasperated.</p><p>Alberto shook his head and took a deep breath. “I was trying to do something nice.”</p><p>She let out a small sigh. “I know.”</p><p>“I don’t want us to fight,” he said, his tone finally returning to normal.</p><p>“I know,” she repeated, nodding softly.</p><p>There was a small moment of silence between them.</p><p>“Do you want to grab that iced coffee you like?” He offered, smiling at her.</p><p>“It’s okay,” she smiled back. All she wanted was to go home.</p><p>“Come on, we’re going,” Alberto made a turn at the street that led them to the coffee shop and Raquel kept herself from reacting in the slightest.</p><p>She really didn’t want to fight with him. She had seen him angry and it was something she didn’t like seeing <em> at all</em>.</p><p>“Oh, fuck, there’s no parking space,” he sighed, pulling the car up in front of a garage. </p><p>“You shouldn’t do this,” Raquel said matter-of-factly.</p><p>“Would you relax? I’ll go get it and you stay here in case you need to move it.”</p><p>“Okay,” she replied, hoping she hadn’t sounded <em>too</em> relieved when she had spoken.</p><p>As soon as Alberto got out of the car and walked towards the coffee shop, an electronic song started playing, like it was announcing the doom that would soon befall upon them.</p><p>“Ugh, not this song,” she grimaced, picking up Alberto’s phone and clicking on the next button, but that one didn’t please her either. She unlocked his phone to pick a different artist altogether and as she was strolling up and down the songs she wanted to pick from, she accidentally touched a text notification.</p><p>She was about to close the messaging app and go back to choosing whatever music she wanted to listen to when she read the two little words “miss u” on the screen. Her eyes automatically glazed over to the contact’s name and she froze.</p><p>No, no, no. It couldn’t be her, could it?</p><p>Raquel scrolled up the conversation – small texts such as “come over” or “i want u” calling her attention – until she was met with an exchange of nude pictures between them. <em> Fucking asshole </em>.</p><p>All this time he had been making her feel like she was to blame for their relationship going South, making her feel paranoid or insecure when she asked him if there was someone else, making her feel bad for the days she didn’t want to have sex with him.</p><p>She barely registered Alberto coming back to the car until he opened the driver’s door and climbed onto his seat.</p><p>“Here you g–” He said, offering her the drink before fully turning around to see because when he did, he was met with the text messages he <em> knew </em> he should have deleted from his phone last night.</p><p>“What the fuck, Alberto?” She asked, throwing the phone onto his lap as if it were contagious.</p><p>“Raquel, listen–”</p><p>“Laura? Really?” Raquel spat out, feeling utterly, completely stupid. “How long?”</p><p>“I…”</p><p>“<em>How long? </em>” She repeated, her eyes crowning with anger. </p><p>“It happened a few times these past couple of months,” he muttered, trying to hold her gaze.</p><p>“Two months?” She shook her head in disbelief. “You mean this summer?”</p><p>“Come on, now, you had been gone for a whole month,” he tried to argue but that just made the blood in her veins boil even more.</p><p>“You mean when I was in Lisboa?” She raised her eyebrows at him. </p><p>“You ghosted me!” He exclaimed. “You barely even remembered I existed!”</p><p>“I was burying my grandfather!” Raquel shouted, her voice breaking as she realized that she was crying. God, she felt so <em> stupid</em>.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I know I fucked up, look– Look, it just happened, okay?” Alberto tried to calm her down as he watched her gather her belongings. “Raquel, we can work this out.”</p><p>“You know what?” She opened the door before he could even say another word. “Fuck you, Alberto, we’re done.”</p>
<hr/><p>“Sergio!” His name was called out followed by a string of knocks on his bedroom door.</p><p><em> Ignore it. Just ignore it and he will go away, </em> Sergio told himself, trying to keep focused on his book.</p><p>“Sergioooo,” Andrés kept on calling, trying to open the door despite it being locked. “Open uuuup, come on, we’re waiting for you!”</p><p>“Go away!” Sergio replied, rolling his eyes, and much to his surprise his brother stopped talking or trying to force his door open.</p><p>He breathed a sigh of relief before hearing a faint sound and a small “click” that followed. He turned his head to find his bedroom door open, Martín hunched over where the doorknob was mere seconds ago with a paperclip in his hand and Andrés standing behind him, positively delighted at the whole ordeal.</p><p>“What the fuck?! This is an invasion of privacy!” Sergio shouted, putting down his book and standing up from his chair, righteously pissed at his brother and his friend.</p><p>Martín offered him a small laugh that resembled a giggle, turning his face to look at his friend. “Yeah, what if he had been jerking off?”</p><p>“I was not–”</p><p>“Yes, we can see that,” Andrés motioned at his desk, full of books, notes and origami figures.</p><p>“As much as I would love to leave you to your own devices on this breezy Wednesday night, your brother truly wants you with us,“ Martín sighed.</p><p>“You have one of two options,” Andrés raised two fingers, leaning against his door frame to take a better look at him.</p><p>Sergio couldn’t help but notice the way Martín’s gaze flickered along his brother’s outline and added that to the list of reasons he believed Andrés’ best friend was in love with him.</p><p>“You can come with us and enjoy a fruitful Wednesday evening downstairs,” Andrés offered while gesticulating. <em> Why did he always have to be so pompous? </em> “<em>Or </em> you can stay here in your room but I can’t guarantee that I will not post your embarrassing preteen photos on TikTok.”</p><p>Sergio glared at his older brother – he wouldn’t <em> dare</em>, would he?</p><p>Then he remembered, this was <em> Andrés </em> he was talking about. He would do it in a heartbeat for the mere prospect of humiliating him.</p><p>And if those pictures indeed made their way out to the world, he could kiss goodbye a life of blending in like a wallflower for the two years of his bachillerato.</p><p>Andrés grinned, witnessing the painful and thoughtful expression in his brother’s face. </p><p>“So? Which will it be?”</p>
<hr/><p>Sergio was sitting on the hardwood floor among Andrés, Martín, Daniel, Ágata and Silene. They had smoked a joint – to which Sergio had just watched and coughed as he was engulfed in its dense smoke – and had few cups of cheap wine. Sergio had obliged by drinking one cup, only to make all of them shut up, but Silene had almost topped off his plastic cup and since he wasn’t really used to drinking, it was already starting to affect him.</p><p>They had decided to play some truth or dare, much to Sergio’s chagrin, while they waited for their pizza delivery. So far, there had already been three dares – Silene was dared to kiss Ágata, Martín was dared to strip into his underwear and Daniel was dared to prank call Andrés’ ex-girlfriend, Tatiana – and two truths – Ágata admitted that the last person she licked was Ariadna and Andrés confessed that he had made out with <em> someone </em> sitting in that circle, although only Daniel was having a hard time trying to figure out who.</p><p>When the bottle landed with its bottom facing Andrés and its neck facing Sergio, the older one clapped his hands excitedly.</p><p>“Hermanito, truth or dare?”</p><p>Sergio stared at his brother. In any other occasion he would have gone with the comfortable choice – <em> truth</em>. He was mostly used to whatever question his brother could make to embarrass him in public and even if he appreciated sincerity, Sergio could be a very good liar when he needed to dodge bad outcomes.</p><p>And maybe it was the cheap wine in his system that had already gotten the best of him, but he didn’t want to give his brother the upper hand.</p><p>“Dare,” he finally replied and Ágata and Silene widened their eyes at him, exchanging a thoughtful glance in silence.</p><p>“Ooooh, interesting,” Andrés bit his lower lip, intrigued by this new possibility. “In that case… I dare you to throw toilet paper on the house in front of ours.”</p><p>“Seriously?”</p><p>“A dare is a dare…” Andrés shrugged, taking a sip of his wine. “Unless you’re too much of a chicken to do it?”</p><p>Sergio rolled his eyes, frustrated. He hated this, he truly hated this, he <em> loathed </em> this – but he had to admit it, this wasn’t about proving anything to Andrés or his friends. He wanted to prove to himself that, yeah, he could walk on the other side of the line too. Maybe it was time for him to reinvent himself and detach his self-image from the scrawny sick boy who missed out most of his life in a hospital bed.</p><p>Fuck that illness. Fuck that dare. He was doing it.</p>
<hr/><p>He couldn’t <em> actually </em> believe he was doing it.</p><p>As he was ushered out of his house by Andrés and his friends with a pack of toilet paper rolls in his arms, Sergio actually wondered if this is what he really had to do to assert himself over his disease, but he had already begun walking towards the house across from theirs, looking around nervously to make sure no one else was in the dark, empty street.</p><p>He neared the house with a strategic plan in mind: if he threw the toilet paper rolls in the right angle, it would make it easier for a clean up later and thus he wouldn’t feel so bad about doing such a childish thing to another person’s property.</p><p>Deciding that it was better to get this over with and walk back home with his head held high, he started throwing the toilet paper over the roof. He was down to the last three rolls when he was startled.</p><p>“Hey!” A hoarse voice called out from behind and Sergio froze. <em> Oh shit</em>. “Don’t even think about running! Turn around!”</p><p>Sergio rolled his eyes, cursing Andrés of every cuss word he could think of, and obeyed the order, turning around to find a police officer pointing his flashlight at him.</p><p><em> Fuck. </em> He was <em> fucked</em>.</p><p>Sergio instantly raised his hands, letting the toilet paper rolls fall down on the sidewalk.</p><p>“So?” The man raised his eyebrows at the young boy. “Are you going to tell me what the hell you’re doing with my house or should I drag you to the station?”</p><p>“I-I–” Sergio stuttered before being interrupted by a female voice from behind him.</p><p>“Papá!”</p><p>Both Sergio and the police officer standing in front of him looked over to the young girl who had just appeared on the front door frame – and Sergio recognized her instantly. </p><p>It was the girl from his literature class, the one who had smiled at him, the one he kept looking over at during lunch. Raquel Murillo. He was TPing her house. And her father was a fucking cop. </p><p>He wanted a hole to open on the ground and swallow him entirely. <em> Andrés is going to pay for this</em>.</p><p>“Raquel, go back inside!” Her father raised a hand at her, walking up to stand between her and him, and Raquel had to hold back a laugh – did her dad really think that a teenage boy like Sergio was a menace? </p><p>The boy wore perfectly sized jeans and sweaters, for fucks’ sake.</p><p>“Papá, it’s okay. I know him,” Raquel explained, to both Sergio and her father’s surprise.</p><p>“You know him?” Her father echoed, frowning at her with confusion.</p><p>“We went out a couple of times but it didn’t work out,” she spoke so convincingly that Sergio nearly believed her himself. </p><p>Her father alternated his stare between his daughter and the boy in front of him. </p><p>He dropped his own gaze to the sidewalk, swallowing dry, but she pressed on.</p><p>“Is that why you’re TPing our house, Sergio?” Raquel asked, and Sergio looked up in time to see her crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow as if she was pissed at him, but her gaze inviting him to play along, somehow telling him without words that she knew what she was doing and that this would be better.</p><p>He took a second to realize that she had said his name.</p><p>“Um… Yeah,” he finally nodded. “Sorry, sir.”</p><p>“Jesus, Raquel, you and your boyfriends…” The police officer finally let his shoulders relax, raising a hand to massage the bridge of his nose.</p><p>“Technically exes, papá,” Raquel clarified, tilting her head pensively. She knew her father wouldn’t dwell on the matter – he <em> hated </em> whenever she brought up any boy in a conversation and that would give her colleague a far better survival rate.</p><p>Sergio, on the other hand, couldn’t help but notice that she had used the word ‘exes’ in plural. Could that mean what he thought it meant? Surely she had to be referring to her former boyfriends, right? He had seen her just earlier with another guy. Unless… unless something had happened between them in the meanwhile.</p><p>“Well, <em> technically</em>, you are going back inside,” he motioned his index finger towards the house as he looked at Raquel and then turned around again to look at Sergio. “And <em> you </em> are going to clean up my house.”</p><p>Sergio nodded, still avoiding eye contact with him. “Yes, sir.”</p><p>When the boy remained perfectly still in front of him, the police officer let out a sigh. “Is there anything you want to add?”</p><p>“Um… Would you– would you maybe have a folding staircase I could borrow?” He asked, quietly taking notice of the fact that Raquel broke into a grin and had to put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.</p><p>Her father snorted. “Does that seem like my problem, kid?”</p><p>“No, sir, nevermind,” Sergio muttered, his glance lowering from the police officer to his daughter, still standing behind him, just in time for him to see her point towards the side of her house and mouth the words “back” and “shed”.</p><p>“Come on,” her dad muttered as he walked up to their home and Raquel could swear she saw him mouth a “thank you” back before having to follow her dad inside.</p><p>The door closed behind them and left Sergio alone again in front of her house, with his feet glued to the ground for a few seconds as he tried to understand what the hell had just happened.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Can't wait to hear what you guys think! </p><p>If it's dumb I'll just leave it alone and go back to my other idea hahaha 😂</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Nada</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi, lovelies!</p><p>Here I am with chapter 2 of this crazy short fic. I promise everything is done with a purpose in mind!!</p><p>By the way, since I was kind of away from here for the past few months, I'm replying to all those comments y'all may have left in Atados that were left unanswered! So bear with me and sorry for the delay in getting back to you, please know that I deeply appreciated them and your love for the story :)</p><p>Thank you for all your kudos and comments, especially with a trope such as young Serquel, I know it's a very specific one but I'm glad you guys are giving it a shot!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sergio had arrived home, about one hour after he had left, to find Andrés still sitting with his friends in the living room. He looked disgruntled, sweaty and, frankly, pissed off.</p><p>“Hermanito! I was just about to send some backup after you,” Andrés exclaimed as Sergio took off his shoes by the door and glared at his brother. “Sorry we lost track of time, I blame Silene’s weed.”</p><p>“My weed is just <em> fine</em>, but please, by all means, next time let’s use yours,” Silene rolled her eyes, scoffing as she raised her cup of wine to her lips.</p><p>“Did you know our new neighbor is a fucking cop?” Sergio asked, raising his eyebrows defiantly at his older brother.</p><p>“Oh, shit,” Ágata snorted, widening her eyes at Andrés.</p><p>“You’ve got a pig next door?” Martín questioned, seemingly amused.</p><p>“I didn’t know that,” Andrés replied, looking at his brother. “How do <em> you </em> know that?”</p><p>“Because he caught me red handed,” Sergio replied through gritted teeth. “He almost dragged me down to the police station and I had to clean up the entire mess! All while you were in here smoking and drinking with your stupid friends.”</p><p>“Hey!” Daniel exclaimed, offended.</p><p>“Whoa,” Silene raised her eyebrows at him.</p><p>“There’s no need to be an asshole, Sergio,” his older brother answered.</p><p>“Whatever, I’m gonna go take a shower,” Sergio rolled his eyes, making his way towards the stairs. He was already angry, but by the time he reached the middle of the stairs, he could hear Andrés and his friends laughing at his expense.</p><p><em> Great</em>, he mused. Another night ruined by Andrés and he also managed to look like a fool in front of the one classmate he was actually interested in getting to know.</p><p>Perfect. Just perfect.</p><hr/><p>The following day, Sergio was still mad at his brother’s antics. He ditched Andrés’ ride and decided to ride his bike to school, which led him to getting there twenty minutes before the Lengua Castellana y Literatura class. He had kept his face buried in his book, even when he had noticed from his peripheral vision that Raquel had entered the classroom. After the events from the previous night, he was definitely not ready to face her.</p><p>If he had turned his face up from his book to even glance at her, he would’ve seen the expression of defeat as Raquel walked past Laura and took a seat far away from her.</p><p>Unfortunately for both of them, it seemed like Mrs. Lopez had decided this would be a perfect day to have her students choose their pairs for a collective assignment – something she liked to do at the start of every school year so the students could get acquainted with one another.</p><p>“You’ll have two assignments,” Mrs. Lopez explained in front of her class. “The first is writing an essay about any book written in <em> lengua castellana </em>that you may have read, I want you to delve into the book’s theme, style, symbolisms, social critiques.”</p><p>She picked up an erasable marker to write a few guidelines on the whiteboard.</p><p>“That is due on Friday,” the teacher continued. “The other assignment is a creative project, I want you to find a way to showcase texts or excerpts from national authors, it can be a written format, a soiree, a multimedia project, whatever you like, as long as you follow these guidelines. You can take this moment to pair up and start discussing.”</p><p>Sergio had to suppress a groan as he watched his classmates get up and pair up with one another. He hated shared assignments with all of his might. He would much rather have double of the work and do it all by himself than to be forced to do it with anyone else.</p><p>He was already feeling resigned to end up with whoever else was left alone in class when someone cast a shadow over him and he looked up to find Raquel standing beside him.</p><p>“Hey, Sergio,” Raquel said with a warm smile on her face.</p><p>“Hey,” he looked up at her, a little confused as to why she was talking to him in the first place.</p><p>She bit her lower lip, looking at him curiously. “Do you wanna be my partner?”</p><p>Sergio frowned at her, even more confused by this unexpected turn of events.</p><p>“Uh, y-yes,” he attempted to speak before she assumed he had any sort of brain damage, although his stutter and lost eyes as if he were a deer in the headlights didn’t help his cause.</p><p>She smiled, picking up her belongings and pulling her chair and desk next to his so they could sit together while Mrs. Lopez began writing on the whiteboard.</p><p>“I’m Raquel, by the way,” she said, her voice low and playful as she turned to look at him.</p><p>“I know,” he answered in a daze. Then, he realized how creepy that must have sounded and adjusted his glasses up his nose. “I mean, from the call sheet.”</p><p>“Right,” Raquel grinned, amused by his awkwardness. Her gaze studied him carefully before she voiced out what was actually on her mind. “So what was it?”</p><p>Sergio blinked at her, both confused and a little spaced out as their proximity made it possible for him to smell her perfume.</p><p>“What was… what?”</p><p>“What made you decide to TP my house yesterday?” She asked, a smirk on her lips. “I assume it was a dare because you don’t seem like a TP kind of guy.”</p><p>“Oh,” he closed his eyes momentarily, still  “Uh, yeah. My brother forced me into a game of truth or dare and… I’m <em> so </em> sorry.”</p><p>“It’s okay,” she shrugged, smiling. “You know, I heard you were very thorough with your clean up,” she raised her eyebrows at him as she mused in a tone that expressed how delighted she was to make fun of him. “Papá said you even cleaned the gutters.”</p><p>“Well… it was really the least I could do,” it was his turn to shrug as he replied. “Although I did see a dead–”</p><p>“No!” She exclaimed, interrupting him rather abruptly. “I don’t want dead animal imagery in my head this early in the morning, thank you very much,” she continued with her normal tone once again, looking as if she was exasperated to even think about an animal carcass.</p><p>“O-okay,” Sergio gulped, slightly embarrassed. “Sorry.” </p><p>“It’s okay,” she replied, placing a hand on his forearm for a brief moment before using the same hand to pick up a pen from her desk. “So… For the assignments…”</p><p>“Right,” he swallowed dry, slightly nodding as she rested her chin on her hand.</p><p>“Would you rather go with classic or contemporary?” She asked. “For the book essay.”</p><p>“Do you have any preferences?” He asked, unsure of how to approach this.</p><p>“Hm,” she pondered. “Have you read <em> Nada</em>? By Carmen Laforet?”</p><p>Sergio looked at her with renewed interest. “Yes.”</p><p>“I read it this summer and it’s still reeling in my mind,” she laughed.</p><p>“I like the idea of talking about the Francoist Regime in today’s context,” he pondered.</p><p>She smirked, pleased that he followed her cue. “Right?”</p><p>“Okay, it’s settled then,” he gave her a small nod and Raquel smiled, content. “We could start outlining ideas for our project. Format, structure, content,” Sergio offered.</p><p>As Mrs. Lopez had finished writing the assignment guidelines on the whiteboard, Sergio and Raquel engaged in a lively discussion of which approach they should take for their creative project. Sergio proposed a mock book collection, to which Raquel countered that they could go a little more unconventional and create a zine.</p><p>They spent the entirety of the class discussing references and talking about their chosen book. Sergio felt energized – he had never had such a good time working alongside someone else. Raquel was intelligent, had a brilliant wit and she talked to him with such kindness and curiosity that he couldn’t help but feel comfortable.</p><p>So when the bell rang, announcing the end of their period, Sergio had to do his best to hide his disappointment.</p><p>“Well,” Raquel closed her notebook, standing up to put her chair and desk back in place. “I gotta go now and get ready for gym class,” she sighed. “Maybe we could meet up later at your place to continue working on the essay?”</p><p>Sergio nodded. “Yeah, sure.”</p><p>“I’ll be there like an hour after school?” </p><p>“Sounds great,” he said, finally standing up from his own seat to gather his belongings.</p><p>She frowned at him. “Which one is your house anyway?”</p><p>“The one with the jasmine tree up front,” he said, offering her a smile.</p><p>“Vale,” she nodded, walking away from him. Before she could disappear from the classroom, she turned around and smiled. “See you later, Sergio!”</p><hr/><p>To be entirely honest, Raquel had spent the better part of the hour after school in her bathtub listening to sad breakup songs attempting to feel something other than angriness towards Alberto (and failing miserably) or hunching over her notebook attempting to write out her woes into poems.</p><p>When she finally glanced at her phone and realized she was <em> very late </em> to go to Sergio’s house, Raquel ran down the stairs in a daze, her hair pulled back in a braid, and her backpack thrown over her shoulder.</p><p>“Hija, watch your step!” Mariví exclaimed, worried.</p><p>She found her mother hitting a nail on the head in their living room wall and hurried past her to gulp down a glass of water in their kitchen.</p><p>Mariví looked over her shoulder to watch her daughter walk back out of the room, cleaning her lips with the back of her hand.</p><p>“Sorry, mamá, I lost track of time and I’m late for this class project thing,” she explained.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Mariví asked, tilting her head as she observed her daughter curiously.</p><p>Raquel shrugged. “Yeah, why?”</p><p>“Raquel...” Mariví pressed and for once Raquel cursed her mother’s sixth sense regarding her and her internal battles.</p><p>“Alberto and I broke up,” she answered, letting out a small sigh.</p><p>“Again?” Her mother raised her eyebrows and Raquel shot her a dirty look. “Forgive me, nena, it’s just… You’ve been down that road before. Maybe it’s time you both actually part your ways this time.”</p><p>Mariví breathed out, hanging a family portrait on the nail she had just hammered onto the wall and tilting her head to study it.</p><p>Raquel bit her lower lip. Her mother never hid how much she disliked Alberto, claiming that there was something about him she couldn’t quite place her finger on.</p><p>“It’s tilted to the left,” Raquel said, pointing her chin at the picture.</p><p>Her mother clapped her hands once, letting out a sigh, and adjusted the framed portrait.</p><p>“How about now?” She glanced over at her daughter.</p><p>“That’s perfect,” Raquel offered her a smile.</p><p>“And so are you, hija, just the way you are. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise,” Mariví replied. “You deserve someone who sees how special you are.”</p><p>“Thanks, mamá,” she replied sincerely. “I really do have to go now.”</p><p>“Will you be home for dinner?”</p><p>“Yeah, I’ll be just across the street! Text me when you need my help with the cooking,” Raquel blew her mother a kiss and, with that, she left her house.</p><p>As she crossed the street towards the house with the jasmine tree in its front lawn, Raquel smiled, letting the sweet scent of the pink and yellow jasmine flowers fill her lungs. She hunched over the grass and picked a flower, bringing it to her nose before finally placing it above her left ear. </p><p>Then she finally rang the bell.</p><p>What followed was the sound of two pairs of feet racing towards the door and one of them swinging the door open. Instead of Sergio as she had expected, she was staring at a slightly taller guy, with no glasses, an elegantly disheveled hair and a very peculiar and strong scented cologne. He was wearing an apron over his black shirt and dark, fitted jeans, looking at her with sheer interest.</p><p>“You must be Raquel,” he stated, offering her a smirk.</p><p>She looked further into the house to find Sergio standing behind him, a look of pure exasperation in his face.</p><p>“You must be Sergio’s brother,” she replied, without skipping a beat. “The one who dared him to TP my house yesterday, I presume.”</p><p>He feigned an offended scowl.</p><p>“I have a name, you know,” he put his hand against his chest, furrowing his brows.</p><p>“Andrés, <em> por favor</em>,” Sergio muttered under his breath, pushing his brother away from the door frame. “Hi, Raquel, please, come in.”</p><p>“Alright, kids, don’t you worry!” Andrés exclaimed, closing the door after Raquel walked inside the house. “I’m going to whip up some snacks for you before I cook dinner.”</p><p>Sergio rolled his eyes as his brother theatrically excused himself into the kitchen and Raquel glanced over at her classmate holding back her laughter.</p><p>“Sorry about that,” he shook his head timidly. “He’s trying to make up for the dare yesterday, so he decided he’s going to cook us dinner.”</p><p>“Well, good for you then,” she smiled.</p><p>“Yeah, if he doesn’t burn down the kitchen first.”</p><p>“I heard that!” Andrés yelled from the other room.</p><p>“Uh, let’s go to the living room,” Sergio invited her into another room and motioned towards the wooden table next to the window, his books sprawled in the corner area.</p><p>Raquel sat down on the chair next to his and he followed her soon after.</p><p>“Sorry I’m late, by the way,” she apologized, taking her own stuff out her backpack and putting them on top of the table. “I kind of lost track of time.”</p><p>“Is everything okay?”</p><p>She considered him for a brief moment before nodding away. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”</p><p> “Okay,” he quickly nodded before pulling out a page with a check-list carefully written in it. “So I was thinking we could structure our essay in topics, then splitting them up between us and writing our pieces before going over them together.”</p><p>Raquel smiled, taken back by that level of organizational skills. “Sounds good.”</p><p>They had been working on their essay for over half an hour when Andrés appeared with a plate of cookies. Despite the brief interruption, they were soon back on track and time flew by as they delved into their assignment. Raquel had no idea what time it was when inspiration finally struck her again and she found herself scribbling some phrases on the corner of her notebook pages.</p><p>Sergio was looking at her discreetly. Raquel continued writing for another moment, finishing printing onto paper the phrases that surged through her mind, until she realized he was still staring at her.</p><p>“What?” She smiled, her gaze still focused on the notebook in front of her.</p><p>He chortled nervously, taking a beat before speaking. “Can I ask you something?”</p><p>Raquel lifted her gaze to look at him with a curious smirk. “Yeah…”</p><p>“What do you write in your notebook?” He pointed at her scribbled pages with his pen. “I mean, other than notes from the classes. I… I saw you do it at school and you were doing it just now.”</p><p>“Oh,” she raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t expected him to actually notice that in the couple of days they had studied together. She never really showed any of her writings to anyone, no one even knew she wrote anything except–</p><p>“Nevermind,” he shook his head, interrupting her train of thoughts and noticing how distraught she looked. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to,” he leaned over his own notebook again. “Forget I even asked.”</p><p>“No, it’s okay,” she smiled. “It’s just…” </p><p>Raquel sighed.</p><p>She looked up to find him looking at her curiously. “Do you promise not to laugh?”</p><p>“I solemnly swear,” he raised the palm of his hand and she couldn’t help but smile.</p><p>“I like to write poems. Sometimes in class… a phrase or a verse comes to mind and… I write it down. Then, later, I go back to whatever I wrote and expand on it,” she explained, seemingly nervous to be saying all of this out loud. She shook her head again, dismissing her own explanation. “It’s silly.”</p><p>“No,” he shook his own head. “Not at all,” he vehemently added. Then, with a tilt of his head, he frowned at her. “Why did you think I’d laugh?”</p><p>She shrugged, her gaze falling down to the pages of the book in front of her. Alberto had flipped through her notebook once and seen some of the disjointed drabbles she left all over her pages. She would have been pissed that he had gone through her stuff to begin  with, but what really hurt her was the fact that she caught him laughing at her writing and saying he couldn’t understand them at all. </p><p>Sergio, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on inside her head but from the look on her face, he instantly knew he should veer in another direction.</p><p>“I love reading poetry, but I feel like I could never write it,” he confessed nervously.</p><p>Raquel’s pensive expression broke into a smile as she looked at him. She was thankful that he didn’t press on the matter and even more so that he shifted the conversation upon noticing how she was uncomfortable.</p><p>“Why is that?” She asked, squinting her eyes at him.</p><p>“It takes a lot of sensibility to write poetry,” Sergio stated matter-of-factly. “I have more of an analytical mind,” he pushed his glasses up his nose with the tips of his fingers. “I’m too much in my own head to be able to actually write something from the heart, so I admire you.”</p><p>“Thanks,” she smiled, gazing down at her notebook and then back up at him. “I don’t know if they’re any good but… I don’t know, they just pour out of me like the words want to find the paper. It’s a different way of dealing with my feelings, I guess, so they’re not just… locked away inside.”</p><p>Raquel felt suddenly lighter, finally being able to talk to someone about one of her passions. She had always been so self-aware and critical of her writings that she had never allowed anyone else to read her poems – hell, she didn’t even let anyone know she wrote them in the first place. </p><p>However, there was something about Sergio’s demeanor that reeked of sincerity and kindness. And the look he was giving her… he wasn't judging her, he didn’t think she was silly or stupid. It felt like he could actually see her.</p><p>“Sorry, I never really talked to anyone about this, it feels… it feels so good to let it out,” she breathed out in relief, breaking into a large grin.</p><p>Sergio followed her, smiling at her with equal enthusiasm.</p><p>“Maybe our zine could focus on poetry,” he offered. “There’s a bunch of Spanish authors we can pick from, we would just need to pick a theme.”</p><p>“Cyclicity,” Raquel said, gazing out the window and pondering her own suggestion for a second. “Poems that touch on beginnings, endings… time.”</p><p>She bit the bottom of her pen, distracted, before turning to face him again.</p><p>“What do you think?”</p><p>“I like that,” he nodded, his gaze watching her carefully.</p><p>She smiled and when she opened her mouth to say something, her phone buzzed. She picked it up from her backpack and checked her screen.</p><p>“It’s my mom,” Raquel said, typing back a message on her phone. “I have to go home for family dinner, we have this whole thing.”</p><p>Sergio nodded quietly as she put her phone in her bag and stood up, smiling at him.</p><p>“This was nice,” she said, putting a strap of her backpack over her shoulder. “If Laura had been my partner, I’d probably be doing the whole thing alone.”</p><p>“Yeah, been there…” He muttered, adjusting his glasses. “It’s nice to have a partner who is actually interested in the project.”</p><p>Raquel smiled, picking up her notebook and books from the table.</p><p>“Maybe you could give me your phone number,” she said, chuckling shortly afterwards and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “So we can text each other references and stuff.”</p><p>“Right, um,” he picked up a pen and wrote his digits down at the bottom of his notebook page and quickly ripped it out to hand it to her. “Here.”</p><p>He would normally hate the mere thought of tearing a piece of his pages, but it seemed like everything about Raquel clouded his judgement. </p><p>So when she grinned and put the piece of paper in the back pocket of her jeans, at the same time he got up to walk her to the front door, Sergio was convinced that he had never seen anything more beautiful but the way her face lit up when she smiled.</p><hr/><p>After dinner with her parents and doing the dishes alongside her mother while her father unboxed more of their belongings, Raquel went to her bedroom and laid in her bed while she scrolled through her social media.</p><p>She stopped scrolling a few times to like a text or photo, but it wasn’t until she saw a video of a dog that she actually smiled at the screen. Apparently, the dog had broken a vase and his owner was complaining while he looked up at her with puppy eyes and ran a paw on his face as if he was ashamed.</p><p>Raquel laughed and she was instantly reminded of Sergio. Without hesitation, she forwarded the video to him and typed him a message.</p><p>&lt;&lt;why does this remind of you<br/>with my dad last night???&gt;&gt;</p><p>Sergio was reading up on his Latin workbooks when his phone buzzed. He assumed it would’ve been a message from his mother asking how he and Andrés were doing, but was shocked to find Raquel’s text on his screen, preceded by the video of a dog looking teary eyed and sad as a woman tried to educate him. </p><p>He chuckled, letting out a nervous breath before finally being able to type his reply.</p><p>&lt;&lt;Hahaha&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;Seems accurate&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;Although that dog is too cute <br/>to be compared to me&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;agree to disagree&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;you both have the puppy eyes<br/>down to a T&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;I’ll keep that in mind&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;how was your brother’s<br/>venture in the kitchen?&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;Surprisingly positive&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;The food was actually<br/>edible and unburnt&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;And he only destroyed<br/>one spatula in the process&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;a professional chef in the making&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;Please don’t give him any ideas&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;what about you?&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;any talents in the kitchen?&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;I can follow recipes&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;Just don’t ask me to cook <br/>anything by heart&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;really?&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;i might send my pinterest<br/>food board your way then&gt;&gt;</p><p> </p><p>&lt;&lt;Is that a job offer in disguise?&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;that depends on how much<br/>you’d charge me for it&gt;&gt;</p><p>&lt;&lt;I’m sure we can work out<br/>a mutually beneficial deal&gt;&gt;</p><p>Raquel bit her lower lip, trying to subdue the growing grin crowning her lips. Her instinct had been right, as far as it seemed. Sergio was a good guy, he was intelligent and he was easy to talk to. She was about to type him a reply when a knock on her bedroom window made her jump with fright.</p><p>She glanced at the closed window to find Alberto standing there. She sighed and put her phone away, getting up from her bed to open the window and stare him straight in the eye.</p><p>“What the hell are you doing here?” She frowned.</p><p>“I just want to talk,” he raised his hands up.</p><p>“I don’t want to talk to you,” Raquel shook her head.</p><p>“Could you just hear me out?”</p><p>“Fine,” she groaned. “But don’t be loud, if my dad finds out you’re here, he’s going to kill you.”</p><p>“Alright, alright,” he said, climbing in through the window into her bedroom. “Jesus...”</p><p>He stood up again, facing her. He seemed impatient, at the same time he was trying his best to keep his expression softened.</p><p>Raquel crossed her arms in front of her, as if she wanted to shield herself from him. “So?”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Alberto began.</p><p>“Because you cheated on me or because I found out?”</p><p>“Look, I didn’t want to cheat on you in the first place, it just... <em> happened </em> while you were away,” he tried to explain.</p><p>Raquel raised her eyebrows at him. “What, did Laura accidentally fall on your dick?”</p><p>“She was the one who came to me!” He exclaimed. “She was the one who kept pushing for something to happen even though you were friends! Look… I know I messed up. I was really drunk when we hooked up and I know it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt you, but I swear it didn’t mean anything.”</p><p>“Well, it’s easier said than done. How could I ever trust you again?”</p><p>“Like you ever trusted me,” he scoffed and Raquel frowned at him, confused. “You were always paranoid whenever I looked at another girl.”</p><p>She shook her head vehemently. “That’s not true.”</p><p>“Yes, it is,” he countered. “Remember my graduation night? You went crazy–”</p><p>“Stop saying that,” she muttered, interrupting him, as her gaze fell down to the floor. She hated when he spoke like that, she hated how he was able to make her feel so small and ridiculous.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he pleaded. “It’s just a manner of speaking.”</p><p>“Whatever insecurities I have or don’t have, it doesn’t change the fact you slept with my friend,” she spat out, trying to hold back her rage as much as she could.</p><p>“You’re right,” he sighed, running a hand over his chin. “I just… I love you, Raquel, we deserve another chance, don’t you think?”</p><p>She wanted to scream, she wanted to yell him <em> no</em>, that she didn’t deserve this, she didn’t deserve any of this. But at this point she started to wonder to herself – what if she was wrong? What if she actually deserved this? What if no one else wanted her like he did?</p><p>He didn’t even give her a chance to think it over, to assimilate all that had happened that day, and there he was again in front of her, asking for another chance. It wasn’t the first time and Raquel feared it wouldn’t be the last. She felt trapped, like whenever she tried to pull away he’d rope her back in.</p><p>“I’m not leaving until you say yes,” he said, his voice firm and his eyes staring at her in that way that always made her feel like the smallest prey caught in a spider web.</p><p>Raquel felt her eyes fill with tears. She just wanted to be alone. She just wanted him to go away.</p><p>So she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to keep the tears from streaming down her face.</p><p>“Okay,” she softly whispered her reply as a sinking feeling permeated her core. “Yes.”</p>
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